Scan 49
A Treatise On The Structure And Preservation Of The Violin, 1875
14 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1The bridge is one of the most important pieces, and must be specially adapted to the instrument.* The best wood for it is the spotted maple, which must neither be too soft nor too hard. The grain of the wood should run in the direction of the breadth, and the top of the bridge should be only half as thick as the feet. The height must be accurately adjusted to the instrument; and in this respect it may be seen whether the maker possessed a scientific or merely a practical knowledge of his business; for the position of the bridge will be determined accordingly.
3When the bridge is too high and too thick, it makes the tone dull, and difficult to be produced; and, when too low, the tone is shrill and piercing, and deprived of all power and fulness. If, after the height of the bridge has been adjusted, the finger-board should sink down a little, it must be raised by inserting a thin slip of wood underneath; or, if it should
5Fig. 5, from the under side; the little furrow, c, at the bottom of the peg, is intended to receive the string.
7From the section Fig. 9 the mode of attaching the strings may be seen. After tying a knot in the string, a, it is drawn into one of the slits, b; then carried over the nut, c, and passed through a hole, d, running obliquely from the upper to the under side of the tail-piece. It then passes into the furrow of the little peg, e, and over the bridge in the usual way.
9Fig. 10 gives a front-end view of the tail-piece, with the four pegs fitted into their respective openings.
11This ingenious invention has been but little used.—Tr.
13* Besides forming a support for the strings, it serves to communicate the vibration from them to the body of the instrument; as may be proved by substituting for it a bent wire in the form of a slur ~, just long enough for the ends to rest on the edges of the violin, when the tone will be found to be considerably weakened. The application, too, of the mute, as is well known, also causes a remarkable subduing of the tone, by so tightly clipping the bridge as to partly check its vibration, and thus in some degree obstruct the communication above mentioned.—Tr.
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